


Mothers Lose Their Sons and Fathers Watch Them Go

by Spannah339



Series: Sun and Moon AU [9]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Team Awesome, baby raccoons are adorable, slight angst, sun and moon au, team awesome as brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25324093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spannah339/pseuds/Spannah339
Summary: They were being followed.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian
Series: Sun and Moon AU [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823434
Comments: 13
Kudos: 147





	Mothers Lose Their Sons and Fathers Watch Them Go

They were being followed. 

Eugene noticed it first not long after they had slipped away from the boat that had carried them across the sea. (And  _ that _ had been an experience. They had both stopped and stared when they first caught sight of the huge expanse of water. They had read about it - but to see it? To see the endless water, the waves crashing onto the shore with power Eugene couldn’t even dream of? That was something else entirely). 

They had slipped away from the boat they had stowed away on, heading ever west, ever towards the sun. A few days later, Eugene had noticed something - a shadow in the trees, a flicker of movement on the side of the road. 

They were being followed and Eugene had no idea who - or what - exactly was stalking them. He was worried it was someone from home - someone his father had sent after them. 

Now that they were out here, now that they were  _ free _ , Eugene couldn’t imagine returning anytime soon. 

They had camped for the night in the shadows of the trees, Varian bent over the fire, focused intently on something. Eugene dropped to the ground near the fire, stretching out and letting out a contented sigh. 

“What’cha up to, Blue?” he asked. While Varian’s hair had faded as they ventured further from the Dark Kingdom, he still had hints of blue through it, and one stubborn streak that refused to fade black. Varian didn’t look up, shifting and reaching for a vial that was spilling out of his satchel. 

“I’m trying to come up with a reaction that’ll help our food last longer,” Varian explained. He shifted, holding a vial up and gently pouring a drop from the other vial he was holding into it. Eugene watched with sightly nervousness, mentally mapping where the nearest water source was. He’d seen enough of his brother’s experiments to know how they usually ended. “If we can make our food last longer we can buy more at once and not worry about it going off. So we won’t have to worry so much about when the next town is.” He looked up, adjusting the googles they had managed to nab a few towns back. 

“You can’t find a way to make the food multiply?” Eugene asked. "Then we wouldn't have to buy food at all." Varian paused, considering the idea, then shook his head. 

“Making completely new matter like that is scientifically impossible,” he explained, turning back to the vial he was holding. He placed the empty one by the fire and shifted, pulling the satchel closer and digging through it again. “Not to mention, even if we can multiply food like that who’s to say it’ll actually taste good - or even be toxic.” 

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it, nerd,” Eugene said with a grin. He leaned back, resting his head on a log behind him, staring up at the slowly darkening sky. A slow warmth spread through him - a contentedness he had never felt at home. Here - here he could be whoever he wanted. 

A muffled boom came from the fire and he sat up quickly. Varian had been knocked back, lying on the ground beside the fire. For a moment, Eugene felt a rush of concern, then the boy pushed himself up, a lopsided, gap-tooth grin on his face. 

“Whoops,” he said, adjusting his goggles and shifting closer to the fire. It had been badly displaced, a few flames flickering angrily at the base of the wood. “I think I miscalculated.” 

“Maybe try miscalculating  _ after  _ we finish dinner - we gotta actually have some food to eat before you try make all of it immortal.” Eugene gave a pointed look at the remains of half a loaf of bread - it was coated in a small layer of some chemical or other, charred by the fire. 

Varian shrugged, gathering his vials and holding one up to his face to see how much was left inside. 

“But I had the idea now, and if I didn’t start soon I’d forget everything,” he said, a slight pout to his voice. Eugene rolled his eyes slightly, smiling as he moved across the camp to help his brother clean up. 

“If you set yourself on fire I’m gonna throw you in the river,” he threatened, a laugh in his voice, ruffling the boy’s hair. 

There was another reason he didn’t want to go back. The reason was standing beside him, eyes bright, mind brimming with ideas. It had only been a few weeks since they left the Dark Kingdom, but already Varian was more like himself than Eugene had ever seen. He was excited about life, about where their next adventure took them, about his science and alchemy. 

They still slept curled up together, but Varian no longer clutched him in silent terror, unable to speak about what he was facing. Varian no longer stayed awake through the night, afraid to sleep for fear of nightmares. Varian no longer hid, no longer watched his shadow as though something might jump out at him. 

And if that was all leaving the Dark Kingdom achieved, Eugene was more than willing to give up his home to see Varian’s bright eyes, to hear his brother speak excitedly about whatever new chemical he was developing. 

Eugene rescued his bag from Varian’s side of the fire, picking it up from where it had been knocked over and flipping the flap closed. Slinging it over one shoulder he placed another log on the fire and reached for Varian’s bag - the bag that held most of their food. 

“Now, do we actually have anything left to eat?” he asked, dumping his bag down and crouching by the fire to look through the other. Varian shrugged, moving to his side and laying a hand on Eugene’s back. 

“I didn’t use  _ that _ much,” he muttered. Eugene rolled his eyes, gently elbowing his brother. 

“Sure,” he said. “Enough to explode half the camp. This is the second time in the last week - and my  _ hair _ still hasn’t grown back since last time!” His voice slipped into mock horror and Varian laughed. 

“Hey, it’s not my fault you were so close when it exploded,  _ Flynn Rider _ .” 

“I’m wounded,” Eugene said, placing a hand over his heart. “Not even an ounce of sympathy for my pride and joy. You’re a cruel companion,  _ Alchemy-Boy _ .” 

Varian grimaced, draping both hands over Eugene’s shoulders and leaning over his back. 

“Okay, maybe that does need a bit of work,” he said. “But if you’re gonna be Flynn Rider I get to be someone too!” 

“Leave the nicknames to me, Goggles,” Eugene said, reaching up and ruffling Varian’s hair. Varian ducked his head, resting his chin on Eugene’s shoulder. 

“So is there any food?” he asked after a moment’s silence. Eugene looked up at Varian, taking in the mischievous smile. Before the younger boy could react, Eugene lowered a shoulder, grabbing Varian’s arm and rolling him onto the ground. “Hey!” Varian protested as Eugene pinned him down. 

“Maybe you should sort out food tonight,” Eugene said with a smirk. Varian wriggled, struggling under Eugene’s knee, then gave up and crossed his arms with a huff. 

Something shifted on the other side of the clearing and Eugene tensed. He looked up, eyes darting across the clearing to see what it was, to locate his sword. 

A shadow flickered through the twilight, difficult to make out with the fire between them. Without looking down, Eugene shifted slowly, holding out a hand to help Varian up from the ground. 

“What?” Varian asked, his voice low. His eyes were flicking, darting from one side of the clearing to the next. 

Eugene held up a hand, gesturing for his brother to be quiet. Varian obliged, but Eugene could see the fear in his eyes - for a moment, he looked like he had back in the Dark Kingdom and something inside Eugene  _ hurt _ . 

Something glinted purple in the firelight - then a shadow darted out of the bushes - twin pinpricks of light moving low to the ground. 

“It’s the raccoon,” Varian said suddenly. 

Eugene frowned, turning to look at him. 

“What?” he asked, his voice soft. 

“The raccoon - it’s been following us for a couple days,” Varian explained. Eugene frowned - but Varian was right. An animal was crouched on the other side of the fire, tiny paws wrapped around something, eyes reflecting the firelight. 

“Wait -  _ that’s _ what’s been following us?” Eugene asked. Varian nodded. 

“I think he’s just a baby.” He stood slowly, beginning to carefully make his way around the fire. The raccoon was watching him, a soft, warning chatter escaping from it. 

Eugene slowly stood as well, but that was too much for the racoon. It jumped, letting out a small squeak, and bounding back into the safety of the bushes. Unfortunately, it was clutching something in its paws. Eugene didn’t place what it was until just before the raccoon dove into the bushes. 

His crown. 

He had brought it along because he thought it might be useful to have something valuable, in case they were short of money and needed to sell it. At least, that’s what he told himself - deep down, something in him couldn’t bear to part with it. The crown was a reminder of who he was - of where he came from. He was a prince, and a large part of him wasn’t ready to let that go. 

With a start, he realized a part of him expected to go back. 

In his mind, this was all temporary - he would travel with Varian, follow the clues he had found in his studies, find what his younger brother had been looking for. And then they would return home, return to his father’s side and - 

And then what, he wasn’t sure. But he had never fully expected he would stay away forever. Part of him didn’t  _ want _ to. He didn’t want to let go of the only home he had ever known. He didn’t want to let go of his family, of his father, of those he knew who loved him, even if he sometimes questioned how. He didn’t want to cut himself off from that, to become a nobody - a nothing. 

He didn’t want to give up his crown. 

But he didn’t want Varian to go back to being the scared, quiet, terrified child he had known in the Dark Kingdom. And he couldn’t bear to consider a world in which his brother wasn’t by his side.

The thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant and he decided he didn’t have time to sort through them at the moment. So he shoved them down, to figure out later, and let out a horrified gasp. 

“It took my crown!” he said, mock horror in his voice. Varian glanced up at him. 

“You brought your crown?” Varian asked. He shrugged. 

“I thought we could sell it,” he said, ignoring the bubbling emotions he didn’t know how to deal with. “Y’know, if we needed money.” 

“I’ll go get it,” Varian said. He ran back around the fire to grab his satchel, digging through it until he withdrew an apple. “Wait here!” 

“Wait, Blue, maybe best not to -” But it was too late, the boy had dashed into the bushes, vanishing after the small animal. Eugene let out a long sigh. “Oh sure, no one ever listens to me, why would anyone listen to Eugene?” he muttered to himself. 

With a sigh, he bent to pick up his sword and made his way into the trees to track down his brother. 

He didn’t have to go far - Varian had already found the small animal and was standing, holding an apple up to a tree. Eugene paused, stopping a few paces away to watch. 

Slowly, the raccoon began to crawl down the tree, the crown still gripped in one hand. Now that the fire wasn’t between him and it, Eugene could see it was a baby - young, small. Fluffy. Surprisingly cute. 

Varian was talking to it, soft, encouraging words and it crooned softly back. Finally, it took the leap, leaving the safety and comfort of the tree to grip Varian’s arm. The boy carefully drew it close, holding out the apple. It chirped happily, gladly dropping the crowd and holding the apple in both paws. 

Varian crouched slowly, picking up the crown with one hand, his eyes still on the small animal. With another soft croon, it finished the apple and crawled up Varian’s arm, settling around his shoulders. 

Varian turned to see Eugene watching him, the raccoon gently butting his cheek. With a sinking feeling in his heart, Eugene guessed what the next step was. 

“Can we keep him?” 

Yeah, that was about what he expected. 

“What’re we gonna do with a raccoon?” Eugene demanded. It crooned again and Varian lifted up a hand to gently pet it, moving closer to Eugene and holding out the crown to him. He took it, fighting down another wave of emotions and complicated thoughts, focusing on his brother. 

Varian gently guided the animal off his shoulder and into his arms, holding it like a small child. He looked down at it and the expression on his face was something Eugene had never seen on him before. The animal crooned again, curling up to Varian and burrowing into him. 

It really was far too cute. 

“He’s all alone, he doesn’t have a mother,” Varian said, looking up. There was deep emotion in his eyes, and Eugene felt a flash of grief himself. The rest of that sentence was left unspoke, but Eugene knew. 

“ _ He doesn’t have a mother. Just like us _ .” 

Eugene didn’t remember his own mother, she had died when he was born. He had vague memories of Varian’s mother - memories that she had always been nice, that she had always kindness for him, a smile, a sweet treat, a soft word of encouragement. 

Then she had left, sent away by his own father when Varian was born. Eugene hadn’t fully understood what had happened until he was much older, but by then, she was already gone, dead and buried in a faraway land. 

Sometimes he missed her more than he missed his own mother and felt a little guilty about that. 

He let out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair (hiding a grimace as his hand ran over the singed patch from a few nights ago. That  _ did _ sting his ego a little okay? His hair  _ usually _ was impeccable!) 

“Alright, fine,” he said. “But if it eats my shoes it’s gone!” 

“Yes!” Varian cried, jumping and pumping a fist in the air. The raccoon screeched angrily, crawling onto his head and chirping indignantly. Varian grinned, plucking it from its perch and moving back towards the camp. “You can be my lab partner, I think you’ll be a good one! Hey, Eugene, what should we call him?” 

“I don’t know, you’re the one who wanted it,” Eugene called, following. 

“But you said to leave the nicknames to you,” Varian said, shooting a grin over his shoulder. Eugene smiled slightly. 

“Tell you what, if you come up with something better than Alchemy-boy, you can name it,” he said. 

“Okay!” Varian said, sounding like he had just been issued the most important task in the world. Eugene shook his head fondly as he made his way back to the clearing. 

He rolled the crown over in his hands as he walked, rubbing a thumb over the amethyst in the centre to clean it. For a moment, he paused, standing just out of the firelight. Then, taking a deep breath, he lowered his hands and marched over to the fire, shoving the crown into his bag again and closing it tight. 

He knew he would have to deal with that at some point, but for now, he could stretch out by the fire and watch Varian eagerly talk to their new travel companion. 

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone who reads this fic is legally required to go and google baby raccoons and also watch at least one video that has sound because if we had to spend 20+ minutes unable to function over how DAMN CUTE they are y'all do as well.


End file.
